Machine for grinding chain links and like articles



Q 1951 w. G. ANDERSON MACHINE FOR GRINDING CHAIN LINKS AND LIKE ARTICLESFiled Aug. 27, 1948 INVENTOR. W6. ANDERSON A rams rs Patented Oct. 9,1951 OFFICE MACHINE Fen GRINDING. LINKS-- AND, LIKE Anthems William-G;Anderson; Geneseo, Ill".

pplicationAu u-strfl, 9.48; eria11No. 46,4 2

(Chi fil -'14 1 Claim.

This invention relates -to.a machine fonfinishring or grinding chainlinks, and like. articles; although, as will hereinafterappear,theprinciples of the invention will, beapplicabletothe performance ofother operations, on other articles.

In the manufacture of chainlinks of the type in which adjacent links,are articulately interconnected by hooking each link .tdits neighbour, acasting process is employed in which several individual links are castin the same moldfieach link beingconnected by a gate to a common sprue.When the links are removed fromthemold, they are, of course, united bythe metal inthe gates and sprue. It is conventional practice to breakthe individual links from thesprue metal, the gate metal being readilyfracturable. Thisresults in leaving on each link, a projection ,or burrwhich must be removed, Conventional practice is to remove the burrbygrinding.

Various machines have beencdevelopedji the prior art for handling the,chain .linkswdurin this finishing or grindingloperationbut, none ofthese machines, in so far as I am, awara have proven entirelysatisfactory from the, standpoints of simplicity, economy andefiici'ency- It is therefore one of the principal objects of.,the,present invention to provide ,an-attachment for a, ma.- chine of theclass ,describedthat can, be simply and inexpensively constructed and.that, will operate with the highest degreeqof. eificiency consistentwith production requirements.

Stated briefly, the inventionresides in the provision of attachmentmeans forthefeeding of chain links, or similar articles downanr inclinedof the chute.

Other objects of the invention aretotprovide: A simply constructedattachment -havinghrelartively few parts; a track or chute means thatmay be readily attached to grinding wheels of existing: types; means foradjusting the track or chuteitowardor away fromzthegrindingwheel tovarythe amount ofmetal .thati'will be removed during the finishingoperation; and meansjor adjusting the angular-ity of the-chuteuwithrrespect to the wheel.

The foregoing and other important objects and desirable featuresinherent in and encompassed by the. invention will become apparent fromthe following detailed description of the preferred form of theinvention as illustratedinthe ac,- companying sheet of drawings inwhich:

Figure 1 isa front View of the machine;

Figure 2 is an end View of the machine;

Figure 3 is a .plan view of the machine; and

Figure 4 .is an enlarged end view of the track on chute as seen from thedischarge end thereof, showing a chain link imposition thereon.

As stated above-theinvention is intended primarily. for usein. machinesand operations of the-'typedescribed above; however, the principles of,the invention will, be readily applicable to otheroperations andmachines and it is therefore intended that thepresent disclosure betaken as illustrative and, not limiting.

Theparticular typeof machine chosenfojr the purposesof illustrationcomprises a main base .orvpedestal It! ,at the upper portion of which isjournaledna horizontal shaft II. This shaft may be, of course,appropriatelycarried inany suitable bearing,- the details of which arenot important here, and may be driven by'any suit; able meanshsuch asanelectric motor or the like, as, represented at I2 .by dotted lines inFig ure-"3. In the present illustration, the shaft H carries-for-rotation therewith a grinding wheel [3 which constitutes means forgrinding or treating-ar-ticles such as chain links delivered or fedbeing to the other side of the wheel and at a level below, saidehorizontal axis. The angle of the chuteissuch that it passes through thegeneral "verticallplane in which,the wheel [3 rotates and thedirectionofrotation of thewheel l3 (as indicated byarrows in the drawings) isdownwardly past the chute 14'. Aswill hereinafter appear, othermeanscould be substituted for the wheel 1 3 inana-obvious manner, sinceit is important only that :whatever cutting or other treatingelements'that are moved past, the chute travel, with -respect to thechute andthe articles carried thereby, downwardly ast the chutei andsucharticles. I

The mounting of the chute I4 on the pedestal III is accomplished bymeans including a short aamsoa I 3 tubular pivot member I! which has aflange or bracket I8 secured, as by cap screws I9, to a fiat portion ofthe pedestal. An upright member is bifurcated at its lower end toprovide a clamp 2| which fits around the tubular member II. The clamp isprovided with a pair of bolts 22 which may be loosened and tightened toefiect adjustment of the member 20 about the axis of the tube II. Theupper end of the member 20 is provided with a pair of upstanding cars 23which receive therebetween an apertured ear 24 provided on the chute I4.One of the ears 23 may be apertured and the other may be bored andtapped to receive a cap screw 25 which constitutes adjustable securingmeans for mounting the chute I4 on the member 20. The upper or receivingend I5 of the chute is shown as resting on a table T on which may becarried a quantity of chain links to be fed down the chute I4. The

angle of the chute may be adjusted with respect .to the wheel, ifdesired, about the cap screw 25. Adjustment of the member 20 about thetubular support I! is provided for in the present case by means of anadjusting screw 26 which passes through an apertured lug 21 rigid on themember 20 and which is threaded into a lug 28 provided on the supportI0. Collars 29 are pinned to the adjusting screw 26, one at each side ofthe lug 21 so that the adjusting screw is rotatably carried in the lug21 but is held against axial shifting with respect to the lug.

The type of links shown in the drawings is that found primarily inchains used on agricul- ;tural implements, each link being substantiallyrectangular and having at one end a hook which articulatelyinterconnects with the bar portion of the neighbouring link. In thedrawings, a pair .of links in rough or unfinished form. are designatedat LR and a finished link is designated in :the same figure at LF. Anunfinished link appears in section and on a larger scale in Figure 4. Itwill be noted that each of the unfinished .links LR has a burr orprojection B thereon which results from breaking of the individual linkfrom the sprue metal.

The chute I4 is formed as a guide or slide down :operator of the machinemerely laying the links :in place in the track or chute at the-upper or:receiving end I5. accommodate the particular type of link to befinished; although, it will be obvious that the track may bereadilymodified for adapting the same to the handling of other articles. In thepresent case, the upper portion of the track is generally U-shaped incross section (Figure 4) and includes inner and outer sides 30 and 3Iwhich between them define a channel 32 and a pair of slide portions 33and 34. At the receiving end I5 of the chute, the outer wall 3I is cutdown to the level of the proximate track or slide portion 34, as at 35,so that links may be more readily placed in the chute. Adjacent thedischarge end I6 of the chute, the inner wall 30 is cut out at 36(Figure 2) so that the track or chute is recessed in alignment with thewheel I3. In other words,

' the periphery of the wheel I3 travels through the recessed track at apoint coincident with the desired finished edge on the link LF, suchedge being designated in Figure 3 by the letter F.

The track or chute I4 has been shown in Figures 1 and 4 as having acover 31 normally held in place as by screws 38 (Figure 4) threaded intapped bores 39 in the chute (Figure 3). The

The track is constructed to 4 cover has been omitted from Figure 3 inorder that the entire track may be exposed in this figure.

In operation, links LR are placed in the channel 32 of the track I4 andallowed to slide down the inclined chute and past the wheel I3, the burrbeing ground off as it is engaged by the wheel. The track may beadjusted toward and away from the wheel I3 by the clamp 2!, so that theoperator can control the amount of metal being ground off. The wheel I3rotates in the direction indicated at a substantially high speed.

As a link is engaged and ground by the rapidly rotating wheel, the burrB is removed and the action of the wheel propels the finished link LFrapidly outwardly at the discharge end It of the grinding wheel I3,which would necessarily be used in any machine to accomplish thegrinding operation. In practice, an operator can pass more links througha machine of the type illustrated than through any prior art machine ofwhich I am aware. The task of placing individual chains LR in the chuteI4 is a relatively simple one, and the arrangement of the track or chutewith respect to the wheel eliminates all guesswork and tedium.

What is claimed is:

For use with a grinder having a supporting pedestal on which a grindingwheel is carried for rotation on a horizontal axis, a, flat face on thepedestal below the grinding wheel and normal to the axis of the grindingwheel, an attachment fixture, comprising: a bracket having aperturedflange means for fixed mounting on the flat face of the pedestal and apivot member rigidly carried by and projecting outwardly from the flangemeans and positionable below and on an axis parallel to the grindingwheel axis; an upright member having an upper end and a bifurcated lowerend, said lower end embracing the pivot member for mountin the uprightmember for angular adjustment of its upper end toward and away from thefront of the grinding whee]; clamp means cooperative with the furcationsat the lower end of the upright member for securing said upright memberto the pivot member in any an axis normal to the axis of the pivotmember;

and means for securing the chute to the upright member in any one of aplurality of adjusted positions.

WILLIAM G. ANDERSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 568,545 Phillippi Sept. 29, 1896642,452 Hull Jan. 30, 1900 1,106,803 Grant Q. Aug. 11, 1914 1,912,552

Vandevort June 6, 1943

